This June, the only festival dedicated to the exciting new movement using Digital Games for Social Change will explore real-world impact, the latest games and funding strategies. Hosted in New York City by Parsons The New School for Design, the 4th annual Games for Change Festival will take place on June 11 and 12, 2007. Expert practitioners -- academics, activists, non-profits, funders -- will be called in to examine the impact of current games, evaluations planned and the ongoing work to build the field. You will have a chance to see a variety of new games in development first-hand, and at the Games Expo sponsored by Microsoft, festival-goers can play the latest state-of-the-art games. Join us!

Featured Speakers

Bob Kerrey, President, The New School and former Nebraska Senator

Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp.

Closing Address: Allison Fine, author of Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age (Wiley),
Senior fellow at Demos: A Network for Thinking and Action

Highlighted Sessions

Clive Thompson (New York Times, Wired Magazine, technology features writer) Grass Roots Gaming: How digital games have become the new graffiti for artists, activists, and teenagers

Opening Remarks: Alan Gershenfeld, CEO of Netomat; formerly ran Activision’s Studios; co-author of Game Plan; filmmaker, writer and Board Member for FilmAid International and Fab Foundation.

Eric Zimmerman, (CEO, gameLab) presents Where Are All the Good Games for Change? – The Game Design Challenges of Real-World Content, an interactive session engaging audience members in the ideas and processes of game design around social issues.

Games in Civic Education and Engagement: New Research, New Learning, New Approaches to Old Problems, panelists: Joseph Kahne, Dean of the School of Education, Mills College; Douglas Thomas, USC; Mary Flanagan, Hunter College, moderated by Benjamin Stokes, the MacArthur Foundation

Media Policy and Games: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? Adam Green of MoveOn.org and Ted Castronova of Indiana University in a conversation about the intersection of media policy and games, with a special focus on Net Neutrality.